Toronto-based exchange-traded fund (ETF) firms BlackRock Asset Management Canada Ltd. and Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. have both announced expansions to their product lineups on Monday.
Specifically, BlackRock Canada is increasing the presence of Canadian dollar (C$)-hedged products in its offering of minimum volatility ETFs through:
> iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol USA Index ETF (CAD-Hedged), which has a management fee of 0.3%
> iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol EAFE Index ETF (CAD-Hedged), which includes a management fee of 0.35%
> iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Global Index ETF (CAD-Hedged), which has a management fee of 0.45%
The new iShares ETFs will help investors manage the impact of a strengthening C$ on their international investments. These ETFs track indices that measure the performance of equities based on market capitalization that have lower volatility relative to the equities included in their corresponding broad market benchmarks, according to BlackRock Canada’s announcement.
The asset manager also announced name changes to several factor-based iShares ETFs, which were effective March 29 and can be found in the firm’s announcement.
Meanwhile, Horizons ETFs has launched Horizons Cdn High Dividend Index ETF, which is meant to provide investors with low-cost, tax-efficient exposure to high-dividend paying Canadian companies, such as those in the financial services and energy sectors.
The new ETF seeks to replicate the performance of the Solactive Canadian high-dividend yield index (total return) net of expenses. This index tracks the performance of 40 of the largest dividend-yielding companies traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) that have a minimum market capitalization of $4 billion.
Horizons Cdn High Dividend Index ETF’s management fee is 0.1%.
Both BlackRock Canada’s and Horizons ETFs’ new products are currently listed on the TSX
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